Building wall



L. s. MuNsoN .1,822,820

BUILDING WALL sept. s, 1931.

Filed .my 11. 1929 amante@ Lai/ufr 5I Manson Patented Sept. 8, 1931 UNITED STATES LUTHER S. MUNSON, F WEST BIVERDALE, MARYLAND BUILDING WALL Application led July 11, 1929. Serial No. $77,503.

The present invention relates to improvements in a building wall formed essentially of a plurality of interengaged blocks or tiles and interposed mortar or like cementitious [E] material.

@ne object of the invention is to provide a block or tile element configured with complementally formed end portions of a character to permit adjacent elements in a .wall

110i to interfit to form a composite wall structure of superior value in reacting against both vertical and lateral stresses.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive tile adapted .15 to be engaged with other similar units in a wall construction, the formation of the tile units being such that the labor required in the4 building of a walll therefrom is reduced to a minimum.

A further object is to provide a wall formed of a plurality of similar tile units tied together through their horizontal joints by means of the compressive strength of the tile material alone, and. through their vertical 5 joints by a minimum of mortar bedding in the neutral axis of the vertical joints whereby the transverse components of lateral stresses im ressed on the wall are principally absor ed in compression of the mortar instead of by the shearing strain of the mortar and of the tile material which characterize wall constructions prior to my lpresentA invention.

Further objects and advantages will sufficiently appear from the description hereinafter of the invention in one form of embodiment taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevational view of a wall constructed according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view thereof, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of thetile units.

It is well known that the burned clay or concrete material universally used in the manufacturelof building tiles has a high value in compression, and a relatively very low value in both tension and shear. The -mortar commonly employed to bind tile units together in a wall has likewise la very low strength in tension and shear, and in addi tion, a much lower compression value than that of even low grade tile material.

It will be apparent, therefore, that the vertical compression strength of a wall constructed of superposed tile or block units having layers of mortar in the horizontal joints formed by meeting horizontal tile faceswill be limited by the compression strength of the mortar material. For example, a wall so constructed of tiles whose material has a comvpression valueof live. thousand (5,000)

pounds per square inch (a typical value for good grade tile), and whose mortar bedding has a compression strength-of one thousand (1,000) pounds per square inch (a generous figure for high grade mortar), will break down under a vertical load in excess of one thousand (1,000 pounds per square inch.

One object o my present invention is to provide a wall, the composite vertical compression strength of which will be equal to the compression strength of its individual tile components. I accomplish this object by dispensing with the usual layers of mortar in the horizontal joints, disposing the mortar instead only in the vertical joints formed between meeting vertical tile faces, in a po# sition and for a purpose which will be hereinafter more fully explained.

Fig. 1v shows to advantage the method of constructing a wall to attain this object. It will be noted that both full and half length units, designated respectively A and B, are employed to produce t-he customary staggering of horizontal joints in adjacent vertical tiers in a well understood manner. Because of the recessed and extended end portions of the tiles, described in detail hereinafter, a special order of placing the units in the wall, as indicated in Fig. 1 by the numerals on the units, is to be preferred. I have found that by following the order designated a wall structure may be built up without the necessity of sliding any tile unit into place between two ,previously positioned units, thus conducing materially to the ease and dispatch with which the wall may be erected.

Itis apparent that maximum efficiency in 100 soI resisting vertical stresses will be attained in a wall composed of tiles whose meeting horizontal edges contact throughout their whole extent with the adjoining tile, and that this degree of eiiiciency will be realized in proportion as the horizontal edges of the tiles are accurately formed. lVhile it is impossible in commercial tile production to economically make tiles with horizontal edges of mathematical precision, it has been found that the cutting of a reasonably accurate horizontal edge on clay blocks is entirely compatible with economical commercial production, and that such reasonably accurate edges make possible horizontal joints which will have a very much higher value in carrying vertical loads than is attainable when even the highest grade of mortar bedding is used in the horizontal joints. l

If veitical load were the only stress necessary to be borne by a wall in practical use, then maximum strength in vertical compression would be the sole desidcratum in wall constructions, and this object might well be attained by merely eliminating the mortar from the horizontal joints and disposing it instead only through the vert-ical joints. The robleni of producing a wall of maximum efcieiicy is, however, further complicated by the impression in practical use upon the composite wall of lateral loads of constantly varying direction and intensity, as typified by direct wind pressure exerted on the outside of a building, and the differential of atmospheric pressure on the inside and the partial vacuum pressure on the outside of a building on account of eddy currents in the air. It is well known that these partial vacua frequently drop to very low pressures during tornadoes and cyclones, being sometimes sufficiently low to cause the wall to fail and disintegrate outwardly against the vacuum pressure. Unequal expansion of the inside and outside wall surfaces induced by fire and climatic conditions, and the impressed force of fire extinguishing streams of water, are other examples of heavy lateral stresses which an efficient wall must be capable of withstanddit will be appreciated that lateral stresses impressed against the wall in a. direction normal thereto, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, will be resisted partly by compressive strain in the side faces of the tile units, and partly by transverse components passing through the vertical joints of adjacent tiles. In an ordinary wall construction having mortar bedding throughout the entire meeting vertical faces of adjacent tiles, these transverse components assume the character of Vshearing' strain in the mortar bedding. As

has been pointed out hereinabove, the shearing value of even high grade mortar is relatively very low, and such walls therefore,

fail under comparatively moderate lateral stresses. In wall constructions provided with intertting tongue and groove portions 1n the vertical joints, these transverse compon ents take the form of shearing strains in the tile materialitself, and, as will be readily realized, the shearing value of the necessarily reduced depth of tile material in a tongue and groove arrangement will also be relatively low, causing the wall to fail by reason of the shearing ofi of small sections of the edges of the tongues and grooves.

Fig. 3 of the drawings shows a tile unit constructed according to the principle of my present invention. This 'unit consists essentially of a hollow body open at opposite ends and formed of similar front and back faces 12, which are conveniently rectangular in plan and are preferably connected approximately midway their ends of a substantial integral reinforcing web 13. The face portions 12 are further connected by opposite end portions of dissimilar but generally complemental form. One end portion is indented to provide a V-shaped recess 14, While the opposite end portion is extended to form f an inverted V-shaped protrusion 15 of the same angular measurement as the recess 14V The apex of the protrusion 15 is depressed to provide an end groove or channel 16, and it should be noted that the tile material in the rear of the channel 16 is preferably internally extended in the direction of the depression forming the channel, so that the material of the end portion 15 is in no way weakened by the channel 16.

The manner of joining adjacent vertical tiers of tile is shown to advantage in Fig. 2, and consists of interengaging the complement-al end portions 14 and 15 of adjacent tile units to secure adjacent tiers against relative displacement. It will be apparent that when so associated the channel 1G and the central portion of the recess 14 ofl abutting tile ends will define a continuous cylindrical or cylindroidal cavity, co-extensive in length with the height of the vertical tiers. Into this cavity mortar 17, in a plastic state, is run, which, when set, forms a vertical column in the joints formed by abutting vertical tiers of tiles. The natural inequalities on the proximate portions 14 and 15 of adjacent tile units hold them spaced as indicated by arrows 19 in Fig. 2. Spacing is also assured by interpositioning of the mortar column between said adjacent tile units.

When a wall so constructed is subjected to lateral stresses it will be apparent that sucli stresses will be resisted by compressive strain horizontally of the side faces 12 of the tile units, and by other horizontal components passing through the line of juncture of abutting tile ends, i. e., the vertical column of mortar bedding 17 L Since this mortar is disposed only in the neutral axis of the vertical joints about which these components revolve,

ies

it will be all'ected by these components only to a' relatively small extent. It will be appreciated also that these components will be resisted largely b v compresshf'e strain of the mortar, thus utilizing to the fullest extent the mortars-reaction capacity of highest value. '.lhe components passing through the vertical joints will also be resisted in part by shearing strain in the end portions 14, 15 of the tiles themselves, this strain appearing tirst at the extreme outer corners of the recessed end wall 11, and to provide increased strength at these n points and consequently greater resistance to shearing stresses, these corners are rounded oii. as shown at 18 in the drawings.

1t is Ato be understood that the invention hereinbefore described is capable of other and further forms ot' embodiment, all of which are to be considered within the scope of the appended claims, insofar as they exemplify the principles of the present invention.

lVhat is claimed is: 1. In a wall constructionformed of interlitting tile, elements having complementally formed end portions of substantially V- shaped protrusions and recesses, the apex of each protrusion having a channel therein, a column of mortar positioned in each of said channels and impinging against the adjacent tile element, the remainder of the complementally formed end portions being spaced. 2. 1n a wall including hollow tile elements arranged in superimposed relation, each of which is provided with a terminal depression converging from the sides of the latter, the opposite end of each element having inclined lateral faces complementing the contour of the'depression to house a portion of said opposite end, bounded by the inclined lateral faces of one tile, completely' within the depression of an adjacent tile, but spaced therefrom, and a column of mortar interposed between the proximate faces of the tile elements. l A

LUTHER S. MUNSON. 

